Japanese cocktail bar in LKF, Central

Inspired by the crazy nightlife and ferocious drinking culture of Japan, AMAZAKE is an izakaya and Japanese specialty bar combining the best of drinking’s past, present and future. Located in Lan Kwai Fong, or LKF as it is popularly known, AMAZAKE is a safe haven for those restless souls who want an unforgettable night out filled with delicious foods, unbelievably creative cocktails and loads of some of Hong Kong’s most favoured drinking games!

We wanted to pay homage to one of Japan’s most beloved icons – the sumo wrestler - and re-imagined an izakaya and bar that would be ideal for these cherubic champions to play, relax and drink after a long hard day of wrestling on the mat.

“AMAZAKE” is named after the traditional Japanese drink made from fermented rice. The drink is normally sweet and popular to use in many Japanese food and drink recipes. It’s even been considered as a homegrown hangover cure – perfect to chug down after a night out at our sake izakaya bar in Central, Hong Kong’s favourite Japanese restaurant and the perfect place to chill out with friends in a relaxed atmosphere.

The ultimate sake bar in Central, Hong Kong

At AMAZAKE, in addition to a host of classic and specialty cocktails, you will also find a long list of wonderful Japanese dishes to delight your taste buds. From starters, soup and salads to crunchy dishes, robatayaki, rolls and desserts, we serve light Japanese dishes that are sure to go well with all the cocktail choices you can find on our menu. One of the finest Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong and simply the best izakaya in LKF, AMAZAKE is the place that you can’t miss if you are looking for a genuine taste of Japan in the city.

Call us now at 852 2537 7787 or drop us a note at the bottom of this page to reserve a table at the must-visit cocktail bar in Central, Hong Kong.

31 (Thirty One)

A game of maths and drinking, which follows the same premise as Blackjack, but with some important variations. You'll need a deck of cards, people, and beer.

How to Play

Aces are 11, all face cards are 10 points, and all other cards are face value. The object of the game is to get as close to 31 points in your hand without going over.

Each player is dealt 3 cards: 1 face-up and 2 face-down. Like in Blackjack, the play rotates for additional cards. At any point in the game, when you think your hand is high enough (say 28 points or so), you can "knock," which means everyone else has 1 last draw to add to their hand. All the hands are then laid down, and the person with the lowest point total has to drink an entire beer before they lose again in an ensuing hand. If they do not finish their beer before losing again, they must drink yet another penalty beer. If the person who knocked has the lowest point total, that player must also drink an additional penalty beer for poor play.

At any time a player has a total of 31 in their hand, they immediately place their cards down and EVERYONE else is a loser.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Asshole

Also known as Bum.

This is a slightly more complex game than the usual drinking game, but can be a load of fun when mastered. It requires a minimum of 5 people to play.

How to Play

The first hand of the game is the establishing hand, which is played to decide who is the President, Vice-President, Normal People, and the Asshole for the next round.

The dealer deals out the pack of cards so that each player has approximately 6 or 7 cards (this number will vary depending on the number playing). Aces are high, threes are low, and twos are wild.

The person left of the dealer goes first, and lays down any card or set of cards of the same value; for example, a single 4 or three 6s. The person to their left must lay down cards of greater value, and the same number of cards. This means that is three 6s were laid down, three 7s (or three 8s or higher) must be laid down. Four 7's would not be allowed, it must be three. If the player cannot lay down any cards, they pass to the next person. They player may also choose to pass. Anyone who passes must drink.

A new hand starts when all players pass, or when someone plays a 2 (the most powerful card). The last person to play a card leads the next hand. This continues until all players are rid of their cards. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the President for the next round, the next out becomes the Vice-President, the next players out are normal, and the last two people out are the Vice-Asshole and Asshole for the second-last and last person respectively.

The roles for each player are as follows:

President

The President is the first player to start each round.

This player can make any player drink at any time; no-one may make the President drink but themselves.

The President should never have to refill their own beer.

Vice President

The Vice President goes second in each round.

The Vice President can make any player drink at any time (except the President); only the President or VP can make the VP drink.

Normal People

Normal people play in the order they finished the previous round; first normal out follows the VP, second normal out follows first, etc.

Normal people can make each other drink as well as the Asshole and Vice-Asshole.

Vice-Asshole

The Vice-Asshole plays after the last normal person.

The Vice-Asshole can only make themselves and the Asshole drink.

Asshole

The Asshole plays last in each round.

The Asshole must fill anyone's glass that requests it, and must always fill the President's glass.

The Asshole can not make any other player drink.

The Asshole has to do all dealing of cards and all sweeping of cards after the hands. If anyone else touches the pile of cards during play, they automatically switch ranks with the Asshole. When the Asshole clears the pile in order for play to start again, they must do this as quickly as possible; if they do it too slowly anybody can tell the Asshole to drink because he cleared it too slowly. Of course even if the Asshole clears the pile like greased lightning, everyone can still make him drink for clearing too slowly.

Continuing Play

Once ranks are established, the players should move seats in order to reflect the hierarchy, and proper playing order. After all the cards have been re-dealt, the Asshole must give the President their 2 best cards, and the President gives the Asshole their 2 worst cards. The Vice-President and Vice-Asshole also switch worst and best cards, but only 1 each. If either is caught not giving their absolute lowest or highest card (for example, if this means breaking up a pair of threes if you are the President) they are automatic Asshole for the next hand.

Play begins again and continues until everyone has thrown all of their cards and the hierarchy is established for the next hand.

Before the hand starts, someone must give the President a toast (this is an opportune time to kiss-ass to the President). If no toast is presented, the President can give out their own punishment.

Drinking Rules

There are very few instances in this game in which you don't drink, depending on how much of a bastard you are and the vindictive qualities of the friends you are playing with. But here are the times when drinking is mandatory:

Whenever you pass (i.e. decide not to throw a card) you must take a generous sip.

Whenever a three of a kind is on the table (can be the result of three singles of the same value, to triples) everyone playing must take a generous sip.

Whenever the President calls a board meeting. Everyone starts drinking and is not allowed to stop drinking until the person above them stops drinking (i.e. the Vice President cannot stop until the President stops, and so on).

You can tell anybody below you to drink for any reason at anytime. For example, if they said something stupid, if you don't like the card they threw, etc. The Asshole cannot tell anybody to drink, but everybody else can tell them to.

Nobody can make anybody drink after they have got rid of all their cards. Additionally nobody can make anybody drink between rounds.

Other Rules

A player may not leave the game unless they are President. You should consider yourself a captive of the game once play commences. If you are lower than President and want to leave the game... tough.

If you are President for 3 consecutive rounds, you can make a rule. You may use your imagination to the best of your ability in order to come up with some good stuff.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Beer Blow

An easy to master game for people with wet lips!

How to Play

All that is needed for this game is an empty beer bottle, a deck of cards and some people who can blow.

Set the empty bottle in the centre of a table and place the deck of cards, face down, on top of the bottle. Play should start with the person to the left of the person who placed the cards top of the bottle. Each player takes a turn blowing at the cards on top of the bottle in an attempt to blow some, not all of the cards off the bottle. The players can blow as many or as few cards off as they want. The player who blows the last card off the bottle consumes an entire beer.

That is it. Sounds easy does it not? Perhaps a little too easy? Try this little twist to the game, after a player blows cards off the bottle they have to get up and dance the twist. Just kidding. To make the game a little more interesting you can add in the rule that when ever a player blows an ace off the bottle, that player has to take a drink. So if a bunch of cards are blown off and there is an ace in the pile that was just blown off, the player who blew those cards off the bottle has to take one drink for each ace blown off the bottle.

This game may sound easy but you really can screw people while playing it. Especially if you are good enough to blow most of the cards off at once and leave the next player with only a couple left, almost ensuring that they will be drinking more than a few slugs of beer once they are done blowing.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

High or Low

This is a great easy game with a pretty good buzz factor; you'll need some cards, some people, and of course, some beer.

How to Play

The first player is dealt a card face up, and is asked to guess whether the next card will be higher or lower. If they are right, then they take a guess at the next card. If they are wrong however, they must drink once. After guessing at least 3 cards, the player may choose to continue or pass. If the they pass, then the next player starts where the previous left off.

When a player guesses incorrectly, they must drink once for each card showing, so a wrong guess at the first card will require one drink, whilst a wrong guess at the 5th card will require 5 drinks. The strategy is therefore to build up a lot of cards and then pass them to the next player.

Tip: Before the game starts, decide if equal cards count as a loss or correct guess.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Fire Square

How to Play

Nominate a dealer, who will deal 4 playing cards to each player and then deals 25 cards face down on the table in front of them in a 5 x 5 square. Starting with the row of cards furthest from the dealer, the cards are turned over one after another. If a player can match a card in their hand with the turned over card, they can nominate someone to drink. The amount they can nominate depends on where the turned over card is in the square:

a card in the top row furthest from the dealer is worth 1 finger

a card in the 2nd row from the top is worth 2 fingers (etc)

When you've turned all the cards over and nominated all your fingers, just re-deal the cards and start again!

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Screw Your Neighbour

This game can be played with 4 people or more (in fact, the more the merrier!); the object is not to end up with the lowest card (where King is high and Ace is low).

How to Play

Players are all dealt one card. Each player then looks at their card; if it is a King, then they must immediately flip it over and place it in front of themselves. The player sitting to the left of the dealer then has the option to switch cards with the player on their left (if they think their card is a low one) or they may keep the card by saying "pass". Play proceeds in a clockwise manner with each person either keeping the card dealt (or traded) to them, or trading with the person on their left. The dealer, who goes last, has the option of either keeping their card or taking one from the deck. A flipped King cannot be traded for, so the person to the right of the King is stuck with their card for the round.

After the dealer makes their choice (keep their card / pick from the deck), all the cards are turned over and the person with the lowest takes a big swig of beer (or shot). If there are ties, all losers drink.

As the dealer can always trade with the deck (i.e. they cannot get stuck next to a King), they are at an advantage and so the deal rotates after each round.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Bus Driver

This is a two person game.

How to Play

Choose one person who is the "Bus Driver" and the other will be the "Rider". The Bus Driver shuffles a deck of cards and deals 5 cards face down on the table. They will then ask the Rider whether the last card dealt is red or black. If the rider guesses wrong, then they must take one sip of they drink (which should be a spirit or other strong drink). The card they guessed is then discarded and the Bus Driver deals another 5 cards face down on top of the 4 that remain, and the process is repeated.

If the Rider guesses the colour of the card correctly, the Bus Driver then asks them whether or not the next card in the line will be higher or lower than the one that was just turned (Aces are low). If the Rider guesses this correctly, the Bus Driver continues turning the cards and asking the higher or lower question until the Rider either gets to the front of the bus (all the cards are gone) or guesses wrong.

If the Rider guesses wrong, then they must take a sip once for that card and once for every card that they guessed right previously in the string. The goal then is to get to the front of the bus in one string. This gets continually harder for every card that is dealt out. When the person gets to the front of the bus, every person in the room has to finish their drinks within 2 minutes. You can also play Ride the Plane which is the same except you deal 10 cards out for every wrong guess.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Rapid Fire

How to Play

This game is a variation of pennies, with a bit more speed and excitement. You should have any where from 2-5 players, anymore will be slow!!!! Each player has their own penny, and there is a full pint glass in the middle of everyone.

Its simple, one person shouts "ready, rapid fire!!!" and the last person to bounce their penny in has to drink up!!! One main rule: you always must keep the same quarter, you can not grab someone else's if your coin goes flying off the table. Get up and chase after it!

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Taps

Perfect for those who are too drunk to talk!

How to Play

Everyone sits around a table with a coin in their hand. The first person taps his coin on the table once for play to go right and twice for play to go left. If it was one tap the person to his right must tap his coin either once of twice, and if it was two taps the person on his left must tap his coin once or twice. When someone taps out of turn or does not tap enough they must drink.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Sixes

Easy to play and surprisingly addictive.

How to Play

Get 6 half pint glasses and number them 1 to 6. Take it in turns to throw a die and find the glass that corresponds to the number of dots showing on the die. If the glass contains some beer you must drink it, but if it is empty you are allowed to fill it with however much beer you want. After filling a glass the die is passed to the next player.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Nothing

How to Play

Players each roll 5 dice; they must discard any threes that they roll; if there are no threes, then they must set aside the lowest dice. They should keep rolling until all the dice have been discarded or set aside. Their total score should then be added up (with the discarded threes counting as 0).

The lowest total wins; all the losers drink as many times as the winner's total. As in most dice games, the winner starts next round.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

3 Man

A classic old timer that everyone should have played at least once.

How to Play

Everyone starts off by rolling one die till someone rolls a three. This person then becomes the three man. The game then proceeds around the circle with people taking turns rolling the two dice. The dice are only passed when someone rolls something that does not require drinking. Here are the penalties for the following rolls:

3 - Whoever is the three man must drink. If the three man rolls this then he may pass the title to a person of his choosing. 7 - Person to the right of "roller" drinks. 9 - Person across from "roller" drinks. 10 - Social...everyone drinks. 11 - Person to the left of "roller" drinks.

Other dice combinations:

4 & 1 - Whoever rolls this become the Thumbmaster. They can place their thumb on the table whenever they want. The last person to do this must drink. The Thumbmaster can only change when someone else rolls a 4 & 1. Doubles - When someone rolls double they give the dice to someone of their choosing. This person rolls the dice and must drink for that many seconds. The dice may be given to two people instead of giving both to just one person.

At any time during the game the three man can be told to drink. However the person currently rolling may not tell the three man to drink. If he does he must drink.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Island Line

ISLAND LINE

One player chooses a card which lists all the stations of a particular MTR line. After that card is chosen, each player names one station. The player who is unable to name a station or names a wrong station drinks 1 drink. May the odds be ever in your favour.

Kiku No Hana

KIKU NO HANA

Each player is given an empty sake cup and places it face down on a tray. One player conceals a quarter / ping pong ball under a cup without the other players seeing. The tray is passed around the table and each player lifts up a cup. If the player lifts the cup which the quarter / ping pong ball is hidden, they take a bottle of sake and fill all the cups that have already been turned over and drink the lot. May the odds be ever in your favour.

Kings

KINGS

A deck of shuffled playing cards and an empty cup are placed at the centre of the table. Each card has a corresponding rule listed below. Each player takes turns drawing a card and following the rules listed below.

Ace - WATERFALL
Start drinking your drink. As soon as your start drinking, the person to your right starts drinking (and the person
to their right). Everyone drinks until you stop drinking.

2 - GIVE 2
Point at 2 people and tell them to drink. You can also tell one person to take 2 drinks.

3 - TAKE 3
Take 3 drinks.

4 - GIVE 2 TAKE 2
You give out 2 drinks and take 2 drinks.

5 - RULE
Set a rule to be followed from now until the end of the game.
(examples: drink with your left hand, do not use first names, wink before you drink etc…)

6 - THUMBS
Place your thumb on the table and try to do this without anyone noticing. As people notice, they will also have to put their thumb on the table. The last person to place their thumb on the table drinks.

7 - TOUCH YOUR NOSE
Everyone touches their nose. Last person to do so drinks.

8 - BUDDY
Choose a person to be your drinking buddy – they will drink whenever you drink.

9 - RHYME
You say a word and the person to your right says a word that rhymes. This continues until a person is unable to come up with a rhyming word and will have to drink. Words cannot be repeated.

10 - CATEGORIES
Come up with a category of things and the person to your right must come up with something that falls within that category. The person who cannot come up with anything drinks.

JACK - GUYS DRINK
All guys drink.

QUEEN - GIRLS DRINK
All girls drink.

KING - KINGS CUP
When each of the first 3 Kings are drawn, the person who drew the card puts some of their drink into the King's Cup at the center of the table. When the 4th King is drawn, the person who drew the 4th King must drink the contents of the King's Cup.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Amazake Bombs

AMAZAKE BOMBS

Place a pair of chopsticks on top of a glass of beer. Then carefully place a shot glass of sake between the chopsticks. Slam the table with your fists, which will cause the shot glass to fall into the beer. Drink the beer. You can countdown in Japanese “San, Ni, Ichi – SAKE BOMB” or simply yell “KAMPAI” before slamming. The first person to finish their drink wins.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Quarters

QUARTERS

A cup (empty or full of booze) is placed in the middle of the table, at least 10 inches away from all players. The players must bounce the coin off the table and into the cup. If successful, the player makes another player drink, and gets to try again. (If you’re using a full cup, the assigned player must drink the whole cup and retrieve the coin). If the player misses the cup, the player to their left is given the coin and they get to toss.